Sarah Polley's daughter pranks her with April Fool's Day letter revoking her Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar

Sarah Polley's daughter just pulled off an award-worthy April Fool's Day prank.

The Women Talking director shared a photo Saturday on Twitter of the hilarious letter she received from her 11-year-old daughter just in time for the holiday. In the note, Polley's genius offspring pretended to be former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president David Rubin and requested that Polley return her 2023 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay because there had been a terrible mix-up.

"Dear Sarah Polley, we say this to you with the deepest regrets: The Oscar you received was given by mistake — you must return it," the letter read. "We are giving you one more week to enjoy its presence in your home, but after that you must mail it back to L.A., where we will give it to the rightful best adapted screenplay: All Quiet on the Western Front."

"We are sorry for your loss," the note continued, "but it is only fair that the play with the real best adapted screenplay gets the Oscar."

If that wasn't brutal enough, the letter went on to acknowledge that the Academy "should have told you when we realized it" but that the ceremony "did not want another 'Year of the Moonlight'" situation, referring to when La La Land was announced as the winner of Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars only for it to be clarified moments later that Moonlight was the actual winner. The note added, "We also did not want it to get all over your local news, as the citizens of Toronto would probably be quite irritated, and we do not want this news getting out."

Polley's daughter also had the foresight to address the letter's awkward arrival on April Fool's Day.

"We feel it is wrong you get this note on April 1 (although we do not know you will, we sent it on express mail, so our estimates show it will reach you around then), as you will probably think it is a joke," she wrote. "And we feel that this is wrong, so another will be sent, probably in this week or the next, assuring that this is not a joke. This is much too cruel to be a joke, ergo we deeply apologize for any convenience we may have caused you. We will also be sending you an email."

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Sarah Polley attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Sarah Polley attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic 'Women Talking' director Sarah Polley

The only thing that might have given the stellar gag away is that Janet Yang is the current president of the Academy — Rubin stepped down in 2022. Still, Polley hilariously captioned the photo, "My 11-year-old swung low for April Fool's Day this year."

Another Hollywood person was also very impressed by the surprise letter: Edward Berger, the screenwriter and director of All Quiet on the Western Front.

"Dear Sarah: To save on mailing costs as I live overseas, the Academy has asked me to provide you with my address so you can ship the Oscar directly," he tweeted in response to Polley's post. "I will follow up shortly. Okay with you? All best, Edward."

Polley dedicated her Oscar to her children during her acceptance speech last month. "Your story will be different from ours," she said. "It's a promise, a commitment, an anchor, and it's what I would like to say with all of my might to my three incredible kids."

Perhaps this was her daughter's clever way of returning the favor.

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